How to Train Your Dragon: The Viking
Chapter 1
I fall. After infinity and back, I land. I land so hard I am convinced that all my bones must be broken. I wince at the pain. Wait… pain! I'm still alive?
I lean heavily on my knees, forcing my body to get up like my mind wants it to. I grit my teeth as I stand. I am sent reeling back, gasping for breath. A shadow catches my attention. Oh my Thor! It's a body! I speed forward, desperate to save the frail life. My knees buckle. I drop, kneeling. I feel nauseous. What happened here?
My mind snaps into place. Is he still alive? I press my fingers to his wrist, then his neck. Nothing. I place my ear gently on his chest, careful not to harm him if he's alive. His chest is flat. No heartbeat. "No!" I cry into his chest. "NO!" He was so beautiful! His tussled brown hair, his jade green eyes. His sleek, slightly muscular build says that he was a warrior. His helmet, which must have covered his face, suggests a secret identity. His black-clad body tells me he must have hidden in the shadows, or ruled the night. On his leg, above a midnight-black boot, metal glimmers. I cock my head curiously. I decide to remove the boot. What I see shocks me. His left leg, severed from the knee! A clever mechanism boasts that he had chosen to create a prosthetic that not only hide his injury, but take advantage of it! I turn a tiny hand-crank. The fake leg-shaped substitute is drawn back into the holster, and a sharp, knife-like limb protrudes from it. "Bwah!" I lean back, careful not to be cut by the sharp blade. Most likely for ice. So he doesn't slip. Clever!
Sweat pours down my face. I sit up. "Not again!"